Sindria Falls
by Mizaya Zoldyck
Summary: The Kou Empire kidnaps King Sinbad and makes it look like he died so that they can take over Sindria. Will the generals be able to protect Sindira without Sin? Or will Sindria fall to the empire. (possible character death).
1. It can't be

**Chapter 1 - ****_It can't be_**

* * *

Jafar didn't believe it. He couldn't believe his eyes. _This must be a nightmare, _he thought. _No. . . What happened? It can't be! This isn't real! It can't be real! No! Why? Why did it have to be him? No! NO! _

Jafar was panicking. He was usually very composed and calm. But this . . . this . . . couldn't be happening! He felt like he couldn't breathe. He felt like all of the air had just been sucked out of his lungs. He thought that his heart had stopped. The assassin gripped the fabric around where his heart was located. It felt like someone had reached inside and crushed it. _This can't be happening. I should have been here. It's all my fault. It's all my fault! _

Jafar had gotten even paler than usual. If he had any color in his face to begin with, it would have completely drained away. He suddenly felt very weak at the knees. The usually agile assassin stepped backwards and fell to the floor. _Why? WHY?! No. No! NO! _He reached up and pulled at his white hair. He was really panicking. It felt like he had gotten the wind knocked out of him. Once he did gain the ability to breathe again, he let out a horrified scream. After a while, his screams morphed into cries and sobs.

When the other generals of Sindria heard their friend's screams, they instantly knew something was wrong. They had never heard the ex-assassin scream like that. They had certainly never heard him cry either. The generals all dropped what they were doing and rushed to where they heard the scream. It was pretty easy to find where Jafar was located since he continued to cry. They all broke through the door that the sound led them to. Once inside, they quickly saw the cause of the adviser's cries. They were in king Sinbad's chambers. He was lying on the bed . . . murdered. It appeared that an assassin had slit his throat in the night. There was blood all around him. It was a horrific sight.

It was no surprise now why Jafar was screaming and crying so much. He had known Sinbad the longest out of all of them. He had practically grown up with the king. Sinbad had rescued Jafar from his life as an assassin. They were inseparable. Jafar had even given Sinbad his nickname; Sin.

The other seven generals located Jafar. He was curled up in a ball on the floor against the back wall of the room. He had his head in his hands, covering his eyes so that he didn't have to see it. However, the image was glued to the inside of his eyelids. He couldn't escape the reality that Sin was . . . was . . . was dead.

Yamuraiha and Pisti rushed to the sobbing general. The other generals just stood in shock staring at their king. The two female generals knelt down next to Jafar. They tried to gently pull his hands away from his face. They were damp with tears. In his eyes they saw a mixture of emotions; terror, shock, and disbelief. They had no idea how to comfort him. They would all probably need a lot of comforting after this. But right now, Jafar needed the most help. Yamuraiha decided it would be best to make Jafar sleep for a bit. The magician whispered a spell and he was out cold. Startled by the sudden silence, the other generals snapped out of their shock and turned to where Jafar and the two female generals were sitting by the edge of the room.

"What. . . What'd ya do to him? Don't tell me he's dead too," Sharkkon shouted at Yamuraiha.

"No, of course he's not dead. Why would I kill him?" she whispered back. It wasn't like Jafar was going to wake up from hearing their voices but she still spoke quietly anyway.

"I just used a spell to make him sleep. It's best that he sleeps peacefully for now," she continued. "Would someone please carry him to his room and keep an eye on him. I don't know how long it will be before the magic wears off. Also, does someone want to take _him _out of here? The room needs to be cleaned and . . . and the . . . the body needs to be prepared for a proper funeral."

All of the generals gazed at the floor after hearing that. Some of them might not have shown it, but, they were all devastated from seeing their king like that. Dead. Yesterday, it would have seemed impossible that Sin could die. Somehow, they all pictured him as immortal. However, that was clearly not the case. They couldn't wrap their brains around the fact.

After a few minutes of staring at the floor, Hinahoho walked over to pick up Jafar. The Imuchak man had known Jafar just as long as Sinbad had. He was so large that he picked up the sleeping assassin like he weighed nothing. He left the room leaving the other six to figure out what to do about Sin. They were all still in shock. _How could this have happened? Why couldn't we do anything to stop it? Why? _those thoughts were going through all their minds. _Why? Why did Sin have to die? It can't be real. It can't be. . ._

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_**to be continued**_

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Finally, I got the time to write another story. It is going to be a long one, longer than my previous ones. I would love any thoughts or comments about the story. I love hearing what people think. It encourages me to post more often when I have reviews. Thank you for reading

-Mizaya Z.


	2. A Nightmare

**Chapter 2 - A nightmare**

It had been some time since Jafar first found Sinbad. It had been early morning then. Now it was late evening. The sun was just starting to set. The sun and the surrounding clouds were dyed red like the color of blood. Like the color of blood that was covering the body of the king. The dead body of king Sinbad.

Jafar was still out cold because of the sleeping spell that Yamuraiha had used. The generals were somewhat glad that he was still asleep. They didn't know how they would handle Jafar if he woke up in the same condition as the condition he was in when they found him. They couldn't imagine how traumatizing that must have been. It was hard for them to believe it themselves.

The eight generals were all in Jafar's room. It had been hours since anyone said a single word or moved a single muscle. No one dared to do anything. They had a feeling that if one person started crying, everyone would start crying like Jafar had been. It was all too much to handle. _What are we going to do? Without Sin, what will happen to Sindria? What can we do?_

The sun finally set completely over the horizon. The only light that remained was the light from the moon and stars and some lights shining from the city beyond the palace. Not a single person outside of the palace knew that their king was dead. _How will the people react? Is there a way we could tell them that wouldn't result in mass panic? _

While the other generals' minds were busy thinking about the many questions they had, Jafar's mind was plagued by a nightmare. The nightmare kept repeating in his mind. It was a flashback of what happened. It was a flashback of Sin's death. He couldn't escape it even though he tried desperately to do so.

_**The Nightmare**_

_Jafar crept down the palace hallways in the early morning. He woke up much later than usual. The other generals were probably already fully awake. Sinbad, however, was a different story. He never woke up early. It was usually always Jafar's job to wake him up. So, now Jafar was heading to wake the sleeping king up from his slumber. He was angry at himself for not waking up earlier. He always liked to wake up before anyone else so that he could get done all of his work. Waking up early also allowed him to have extra time in case he had to do Sin's work too, which he had to do quite often since Sinbad was such a lazy king._

_As he was nearing the king's room in the palace. Jafar got a strange feeling. It sent chills down his spine. He couldn't quite figure out what it felt like, but it didn't feel good. It caused him to quicken his pace. He reached the door and pulled it open. What he saw when he walked inside left him breathless. Sinbad, his king, his closest friend, was covered in blood. The blood appeared to originate from the man's throat. An assassin's work no doubt. Jafar stood there for what seemed like hours. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't scream, he couldn't move. Then, the dead king rose from the bed. He walked towards Jafar slowly. Jafar was finally able to move and he backed away as much as he could until he hit a wall. Sinbad spoke, which should have been impossible considering his vocal cords were probably cut. _

_"Why did you do this to me? Why did you let me die? You could have saved me but instead you let me to die. What is wrong with you? I thought you were supposed to protect me. You are a general of Sindria! You were supposed to protect your king! You apparently weren't a good enough general to save me. I saved you! But you! You just let me die!" _

_The dead man's words kept getting louder. Each sentence was louder and angrier than the last. By the time he finished yelling, he was directly in front of Jafar. Jafar couldn't escape; he was backed into a corner by a man who was supposed to be dead. Not that Jafar wanted him to be dead, but right now he was scaring the ex-assassin. _

_Sinbad continued to talk after a brief pause. _

_"Well, since you didn't save me. How about you join me?!" _

_With that, Sinbad reached up and grabbed Jafar by his throat. He lifted the small adviser with almost inhuman strength. Jafar panicked as his feet left the ground. His neck was being crushed by Sin. He was held against the wall as the dead king's fingers kept getting tighter and tighter around Jafar's neck. The last thing he saw before being dropped to the floor was what looked like a smile on Sin's face. His king was smiling as he lay dying? No . . . Sin . . . Why? _

The other generals jumped out of their skin when Jafar woke up. He bolted upright in bed. He was clearly panicking. At first it seemed like he didn't realize where he was. His hands reached up to feel his throat. He was gasping for breath like he had been drowning. His eyes darted around the room. He seemed to realize that it was a nightmare because he started to calm down. He was still breathing hard but now he was mumbling nonsensical things between breaths. It sounded like it was something about Sinbad though. Other than that, they had no idea what he was saying.

After several minutes, all of the generals calmed down considerably. Yamuraiha was glad that Jafar was awake but at the same time she wasn't. He was no longer breathing erratically or mumbling unknown words. However, he was still gripping his throat lightly. He appeared to be stunned. He didn't speak, he didn't move, he didn't acknowledge that he knew the other generals were there. Instead, he just stared off into space; dazed. The other generals thought that he was most likely in shock. However, they had not had to endure Jafar's nightmare. They could never imagine how horrific that dream had been to him. Jafar truly prayed that the whole day was just another nightmare. Nightmares he could recover from; they weren't real. Everyone wished that the day wasn't real. They wanted to wake up from whatever nightmare they were in.

_**In another part of the world**_

_Where am I? What happened? Why does my head hurt so much? Why can't I remember how I got here? This doesn't seem like my room. My room shouldn't be swaying like this._

"Wake up! Rise and shine princess, or should I say . . . _king_"

**_To be continued_**


	3. Mourning

Sinbad's funeral was a few days later. It was a royal funeral for him since he was the king. All of Sindria was grieving after the news of his death. He was the greatest king they had ever known. Everyone, especially the eight generals, felt like a part of them died with Sin. It was impossible to describe the way they were all feeling. For years they had all felt immortal, now that had proved not to be the case. Now that they were watching his funeral, they knew that no one could truly be immortal.

It was a silent funeral. Some people were crying, but most people were in a state of disbelief. The people of Sindria would probably be in the same state for weeks following the funeral. All of the people came and put a flower on his body. At the end of the day, the generals pushed his body off to sea in a boat. He always loved the sea more than anything so they thought it was the best way to send him off. After the small boat drifted off far enough, some Sindria palace guards shot flaming arrows at the boat. Everyone watched in silence as the boat caught on fire and slowly burned. They couldn't believe that it would be the last time they would see their king.

The silent day slowly evolved into a silent evening. Even though it was nighttime, there was no nighttime drinking and partying. The people of Sindria were too busy mourning to even think about having fun. For the generals, drinking would never be the same without Sinbad.

It was now long past midnight. However, none of the generals felt like sleeping. They all, excluding Jafar, sat in silence in a palace lounge. Not one of them dared to speak. Even Sharrkon and Yamuraiha were not arguing for once. It was deathly silent. Many of them wanted to say something but they could not find the courage to do so.

Sharrkon was the one to finally break the silence.

"What are we gonna do now?" he questioned.

"I honestly do not know," Yamuraiha answered.

"What are we supposed to do without him?" Pisti asked. She sounded like she was on the verge of crying. In fact, they all were but they were just good at hiding it.

"It will be hard without him. We should probably find someone to be king though, or maybe not a king, just someone to run the country so it doesn't fall into chaos," Drakon said.

"Well, out of all of us, Jafar would be the best one to run the country. He practically ran the country already before this happened," Sharrkon suggested.

"I agree," said Yamuraiha, who was probably agreeing with Sharrkon for the very first time.

"Me too," said Pisti.

Masrur, Hinahoho, Drakon, and Spartos just nodded in agreement.

"It's settled then, Jafar will lead the country from now on, if he agrees to it," Yamuraiha said. "Now we just have to find him and ask him."

"That might be hard to do. Where did he go anyway?" Sharrkon asked.

"I have a feeling that he hasn't moved from where we last saw him," Yamuraiha answered.

After the funeral was over, Jafar had stayed by the shore where they pushed the boat off while they went back inside the palace. Yamuraiha figured that he probably hadn't moved from that spot. Sure enough, as the generals walked over there, they saw him. He was still in the same place except now he was sitting on the ground instead of standing.

The other seven generals walked up behind him, careful not to surprise him. Ever since he had that nightmare, he had been frightened easily. They had no clue as to what scared him so much but they knew it had to be something about Sinbad. They hoped that they could finally get him to talk to them. He hadn't said a single word since Sin's death.

Careful not to scare him, Yamuraiha put her hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly and looked up at her.

"Hey, Jafar. How are you doing?"

"Alright," he responded.

_He spoke! _All of the generals thought as they rejoiced internally.

"We were thinking . . . and well . . . we thought that maybe . . . well . . . that maybe you should take over for Sinbad and run the country," she said hesitantly.

He didn't respond for some time and they were beginning to think that he wouldn't respond at all. However, finally he said, "Okay. If you think that is the right thing to do. As long as it is what's best for Sindria, I'll do it."

"Thank you so much. I'm sure that it is what Sinbad would have wanted. He trusted you more than anyone else."

Yamuraiha regretted saying that as soon as she saw the look on Jafar's face after the words left her mouth. He wore the same terrified expression as when he woke up from the nightmare.

When Jafar heard her say that he instantly remembered his nightmare. __"Why did you do this to me? Why did you let me die? You could have saved me but instead you let me to die. What is wrong with you? I thought you were supposed to protect me. You are a general of Sindria! You were supposed to protect your king! You apparently weren't a good enough general to save me. I saved you! But you! You just let me die!"_ _Sin trusted him but he felt like he had let him die. _What kind of an adviser am I? It's all my fault. It's all my fault! It's all my fault. It's all my fault. I should have died. I should have died. I should die. I should die. I should d-_

"I'm sorry Jafar. I didn't mean to upset you. But, we still need you. This country would fall into chaos without you."

What she said made Jafar snap out of it. He realized that without him, Sindria would probably be a disaster. He couldn't let Sin down again by letting his country fall to ruin.

"It's okay. I'll help you all run the country. I can't do it by myself."

"Great! We really need you."

The generals were all relieved that Jafar seemed more like his old self.

"How about we head back inside. It is already very late,"

"Sure," Jafar replied. He still wasn't completely back to his old self. I mean, who wouldn't be different after going through what he had been through in the past few days?

It was probably past 2 a.m. by the time they were finally able to get some sleep. They had all had a very long day.

_**In another part of the world**_

_Where am I? What happened? Why does my head hurt so much? Why can't I remember how I got here? This doesn't seem like my room. My room shouldn't be swaying like this._

"Wake up! Rise and shine princess, or should I say . . . _king,_" a familiar voice said.

Sinbad bolted up quickly when he realized that he was definitely not in his room in the palace.

He scanned his surroundings and figured out that the room was swaying because he was on a ship. He also noticed that someone was watching him. Sin knew that the voice he heard before sounded familiar but he couldn't see who it was because of the darkness.

"I know you're there, who are you?"

"Aw, I'm sad. I thought you would recognize me."

"Judar! What did you do? Where are you taking me?"

"What? You just assume that this is all my fault? How do you know that I'm not a prisoner here too," Judar said while tearing up slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know. I just figured-"

"HA! You fell for it again! First in Sindria and now here! You trust me way too much Sinbad," Judar said as he was rolling on the floor laughing. Sinbad wasn't as amused. He knew that Judar just liked to play with and manipulate people but he always fell for his lies anyway. He was just too trusting of people. He was the type of person who always tried to see the best in people. Even though Jafar was an assassin, Sinbad trusted him as a friend all those years ago. Even though he had tried to kill him, Sinbad still asked Jafar to become one of his advisers. He knew now that he couldn't trust Judar like he trusted most people.

"Haha very funny. Now tell me truthfully Judar, why am I here and where are you taking me?"

"I'm sure you'll figure out why you're here later. Someone will probably tell you once we reach the Kou Empire. I'm sure prince Kouen will love to explain everything to you then. But for now, enjoy the trip," and with that, Judar left Sinbad alone in the darkness below the deck of a ship, a ship heading towards the Kou Empire.

**_To be continued_**

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I really appreciate any thoughts, suggestions, or opinions about this story. Thank you for reading.

-Mizaya Z.


	4. Kouen's Plan

**Chapter 4 – Kouen's Plan**

It had been a full week since Sindria had given king Sinbad a funeral. Everyone was still grieving. However, working on running the country gave the eight generals something to keep their mind off of their king. Everyone, especially Jafar, was hard at work keeping everything running smoothly. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't that much different running the county without Sinbad. He usually never did any work normally so it was hardly different without him. Besides the fact that Sin was gone, it all seemed pretty normal to most all of the generals.

Jafar, however, was a different story. He was trying to get some work done but he couldn't get any done. Ever since Sin died, he had had the same nightmare every night. It would not go away. Now, even during the day, the ex-assassin couldn't get it out of his head. _Sin trusted me but I let him down. He probably doesn't want me as a general anymore. What am I saying, he's dead! I wonder if he thought of me before he died? Did he think that I betrayed him? I don't deserve to be alive now that he's dead. If only whoever killed him had killed me too. _Jafar sighed as he was thinking those depressing thoughts. His head was filled with similar thoughts every. single. day. He was making himself sick with the lack of sleep and the stressful thoughts. Not that he would mind if he got sick and died. Some days, he couldn't wait to die and be reunited with Sin in the Rukh. _Would Sin even want to be reunited with me? Probably not._ _He would never want to see me again._

_**In another part of the world**_

The ship Sinbad was on had finally reached the Kou Empire. He was glad to get off it. He was sick and tired of Judar's constant joking and teasing. It was constantly 'lord moron' this, and 'idiot king' that. The handcuffs were annoying, but overall, Sinbad was glad to be on dry land. Now that he was in the Kou Empire he could start to plan a way to escape. He still didn't know how they got him or what had happened back home. However, the one thing that he knew for sure was that he couldn't wait to get back. He couldn't wait to see everyone again, especially Jafar. In the week or so that Sin had been gone, he thought about Jafar all the time. Sinbad missed his friend. He could not imagine what he would do if Kouen had hurt any of his generals when he kidnapped him.

Sinbad was brought before Kouen in the Kou Empire's luxurious palace. Judar had told Sinbad that Kouen would tell him what he wanted to know. Sin was anxious to hear what he had to say.

"King Sinbad, so nice to see you again," Kouen said with slight sarcasm.

"Tell me what you did to Sindria. To my generals."

"Impatient now, are we?"

". . ."

"I can tell you that I did not hurt them physically in any way . . . yet."

"What do you mean by 'yet'?! Are they here?" Sinbad said angrily.

"No, they are not here. You were the only one we captured. It doesn't mean that I do not have plans for them though."

"What kind of plans? What do you want me for?"

"I plan to take over Sindria. You were in the way so I got rid of you. You see, they think you are dead. Your precious generals already had your funeral a week ago. Now that they think you are gone, the country is weak enough to overtake. And if they put up much of a fight, you make a wonderful hostage. I would bet that they would willingly give up the country for you."

"They would never! You'll never take over Sindria," Sinbad practically yelled. He could not believe what he was hearing. _They think I'm dead? How could he do something like this? They must be panicked. No, I need to have more faith in them. They probably figured out that it was faked and they are looking for me right now. Even if they still think I'm dead, they should be able to take care of the country good enough without me. I believe in them._

"They will not let you take over my country. They're ten times stronger than the Kou Empire will ever be," Sinbad said with renewed confidence.

Kouen just glared at him angrily. He seemed enraged at Sinbad's confidence in his generals. No doubt that Sinbad trusted Jafar the most. Kouen knew that he would have to deal with Jafar first. He knew that the ex-assassin would be tricky to deal with, which made it all the more fun to plan ways to destroy him and the rest of Sindria's generals.

_**To Be Continued**_


	5. Invading Fleet

**Chapter 5 – Invading Fleet**

It had been two weeks since Sinbad's "death." The generals still busied themselves as much as possible with work to keep their minds off Sin. However, it was growing increasingly more chaotic in Sindria. There were rumors going around that the Kou were going to invide without Sinbad there to protect the country. Of course, all the generals just thought they were purely rumors; nothing true about them at all. They would soon find out that they were very wrong.

* * *

Sinbad was worried about Sindria. He was already on a Kou ship heading there along with a fleet of other ships. They had left not to long after Sin arrived in the empire. It wouldn't be long before they arrived. _What do I do? How do I stop this? Everyone, Jafar, please, I know you can get through this._

* * *

"Lord Jafar, lord Jafar! There's an emergency! We spotted a fleet of Kou ships headed towards us! It looks like the rumors are true. They'll be here soon! What do we do?!" some Sindrian palace guards shouted. They were quite out of breath so they must have run to Jafar's office as fast as they could. Jafar was stunned. He couldn't imagine that the rumors were true. He thought for sure that they had made enough allies in the Kou Empire to ensure the country's safety. He knew that Kougyoku and Hakuryuu would never attack Sindria, which meant that it must have been Kouen's idea to attack the country.

"Go alert the other generals, tell Yamuraiha to strengthen the barrier and tell the others to prepare to fight if necessary."

"Yes lord Jafar," and with that the guards ran off again.

_What do we do? We need Sin. How can we do this without him? _Jafar was panicking. He knew that there was only a small possibility that they could defend Sindria without Sin. Even though it was impossible, Jafar was going to try his hardest anyway. _I can't let Sin down again. He is probably watching over us in the Rukh._

* * *

"Hey lord moron, enjoying the trip?"

". . ."

"Oh come on, you can talk to me, idiot king. Come on, say something. I'll just annoy you until you do. Lord moron, lord moron, lord moron."

"Shut up."

"Well that's not nice, and I was gonna go out of my way to do something nice for you too. Too bad, I guess I won't then."

"Wait," Sin hated to accept something nice from Judar of all people but he was curious, "What do you want?"

"I was just gonna show you something. I know it must be boring sitting down here below deck without knowing what's going on so I thought I would let you observe the battle for yourself." With a wave of his wand, Judar used a form of magic to show a crystal clear picture of Sindria from above. It was so realistic, Sinbad thought it looked like he could escape by jumping through it. _Wouldn't that be nice, _he thought.

"It's nothing too special, just some advanced clairvoyance magic. It'll show you whatever part of the battle you want to see or whoever you want to see. Well, have fun watching from down here, lord moron, I'm gonna go destroy the barrier again," Judar said and flew out of the ship. Just like Judar said, Sinbad saw him in the sky above Sindria from the little window of magic. He let out a powerful beam of magic aimed at Sindria's magic barrier. It must have been even more powerful than last time because the whole dome fell apart. _Great, Yamuraiha had just finished fixing it from the last time he destroyed it. _

To test out what Judar had said about it showing him whatever or whoever he wanted to see, he tried commanding the circle of light.

"Show me . . . hmm . . . the Palace." And just like that, the picture changed to a view of the Sindrian palace from above.

"Interesting, now show me . . . Pisti." Again, the picture changed to view Pisti. She was riding one of her large animal friends in the sky above the palace, probably looking to try and find the best course of action to take with the Kou ships. The magic window kept up with her perfectly as she flew around on her dragon-like creature. Now that Sinbad knew it worked, he wanted to use it to see who he most wanted to see. He didn't even have to think about who he wanted to see the most.

"Alright now show me Jafar," he said without hesitation. What he saw shocked him.

**_To be Continued _**


	6. Invading Fleet Part 2

**Chapter 6 – Invading Fleet Part 2**

Jafar had heard the barrier break. He knew that the Kou ships now had full access to Sindria's shores. He guessed that it was probably Judar who broke it . . . again. Oh how Jafar hated that Magi. The ex-assassin wished he could have killed him the first time he invaded Sindria. Luckily, that time it was just to mess with them, he didn't actually do that much damage . . . well, besides sending Jafar flying into a wall. Sinbad was the one that stopped Jafar from killing Judar at the time, or stopped him from trying to kill him. Now that Sinbad was gone, Jafar had all the more reason to kill that annoying, dark Magi. Even though he would probably die trying, Jafar was determined to kill Judar once and for all. Again, Jafar thought that it would be better to get killed than continue living in a world without Sinbad. He thought that maybe if he died while saving Sindria, Sinbad might forgive him.

He couldn't stop thinking about how he had let his king down. Every day it seemed to get worse and worse. The already tiny man had stopped eating a few days earlier. He couldn't get any sleep either; he always had nightmares that kept him awake. All he could do was focus on his work to keep his mind occupied. Work was always like a hobby for the king's adviser, now more than ever.

At the moment though, Jafar had to put aside his work and help the other generals to try and save the country from the Kou Empire's invasion. He looked around for his wires. He felt like he had no use for them anymore after Sinbad died but now that he needed them, he couldn't find them. After he finally found them and started to wrap them back around his arms, Yamuraiha burst through the door.

"Jafar . . . I'm sorry . . . I couldn't . . . keep the barrier . . . up any longer," she said between breaths. Keeping the barrier up can sometimes be hard work for the magician so she was clearly exhausted from trying to prevent it from breaking. Once she finally stopped breathing hard, she noticed that Jafar had his wires on again.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting ready to fight."

"What! You can't be serious? Have you looked at yourself lately? You are in no shape to fight a whole fleet of Kou soldiers."

What she said was true; he was in no condition to fight. Jafar looked terrible. He was like skin and bones from not eating at all and he had huge dark circles under his eyes from not getting any sleep. In the state the ex-assassin was in, he probably couldn't even take on one Kou soldier, let alone a fleet of ships full of them. It wouldn't stop him from trying though.

"I know, but I at least have to try."

"Have you gone insane? You'll get yourself killed!"

"I don't **care**!" he yelled. His sudden outburst made Yamuraiha jump backwards.

"What are you talking abou-"

"I don't care if I die. I don't care if I can't kill a single soldier. I don't care about anything anymore! I just don't want to fail him, again. Darn it, I was supposed to protect him! If I couldn't even do that much, what good of an adviser am I? The only way I can make it up to him is if I protect his country and his legacy. So, if I can't do that, I might as well die trying."

Yamuraiha was on the verge of tears. She had no idea how much Sinbad's death actually affected Jafar. He hardly ever talked to any of them after that so she had no idea that he felt like this. It saddened her that he felt like it was his fault. What saddened her even more though, was the fact that he did not trust any of his fellow generals, his friends, enough to share how he felt.

"It's not your fault, Ja-"

"I wasn't there to protect him! He died because of me! And yet you say it is not my fault? I don't see how you could think that."

Yamuraiha didn't know what to say. It seemed like there was no way to convince him that it was not his fault. _I know Sinbad would never consider it Jafar's fault. If only he could appear and tell him himself_, she thought to herself.

* * *

Sinbad wanted to scream at Jafar. Not only was he able to see how terrible Jafar looked, but he could also hear the conversation between his two generals through his magic window. It made Sin angry that Jafar would think it was his fault. He wasn't angry at Jafar so much, he was angrier at Kouen for making his adviser feel this way. _So Kouen was right, they do think I'm dead, _he thought. He couldn't believe how Jafar was acting. It shocked him that Jafar was so pale – not that he wasn't always pale – and so sick looking. It looked like he hadn't eaten in days – which was probably true. Sinbad couldn't believe that his faked death caused his adviser that much grief. However, he thought about how he would feel if the situation was reversed and he figured he would probably act the same way. Oh how Sinbad wished he could just jump through Judar's weird magic window and show them that he was still alive. He wanted so bad to tell him that he was alive. He wanted him to know that it was not his fault because he didn't die in the first place. He swore that no matter what happened, he would get back to Jafar and the rest of his generals and save them before it was too late.

**_To be Continued_**


	7. The Fight Begins

**Chapter 7 – The Fight Begins**

Sinbad didn't know what to do. He was stuck in a ship and could only watch while everyone started fighting. The Kou soldiers just reached the shores of Sindria. It angered him that he could only watch while normal countrymen tried to fight and were struck down easily by the masses of trained Kou soldiers. It became clear that the normal people were not what they were after, though. They only fought the ones that tried to fight back, they did not seek out the ones hiding in their homes, luckily. If Sinbad was still there, he would order everyone to stay in their homes or their basements instead of losing their lives by trying to fight. It was pointless for the people to fight back when they were not even what the Kou soldiers were after. It looked like the soldiers were heading directly towards the palace, which did not surprise Sinbad. The palace is where all the important people are located . . . including Jafar. Sinbad had seen Judar heading that way too, which was really really bad. Sin knew that no one could win a fight against a Magi, especially a Magi as powerful and him, unless it was another Magi fighting. King Sinbad knew that there was little chance for his generals to win the fight; he only hoped that they wouldn't die trying. _Please. Please, don't die. You can survive, I believe in you. Masrur, Sharrkon, Yamuraiha, Pisti, Spartos, Drakon, Hinahoho, and Jafar. We have fought and survived together for many years. Don't you dare die without me! If you die, I want to be there with you, fighting 'til the end, together!_

* * *

Not long after Kou soldiers landed on the shores of Sindria, the rest of the generals rushed into the room where Yamuraiha and Jafar were.

"Jafar, Yamuraiha, the Kou soldiers have reached the shores," said Hinahoho.

"Yeah, and they seem to be heading this way!" shouted Sharrkon.

"This way? Are they close?" Yamuraiha asked.

"Yeah! They are like surrounding the palace right now!" Sharrkon shouted back.

Sure enough, when they looked out the window there were hundreds – or maybe even a thousand – Kou soldiers outside the palace, waiting to fight.

"What should we do?" Yamuraiha asked. All the generals turned to Jafar for the answer.

"I'm going to go out there and fight until I die. I don't care if you want to join me or not."

"Well, I'm gonna fight too," Sharrkon replied.

Musrur nodded.

"I will fight as well," Yamuraiha said.

"You can count on me," Spartos added.

"Yep, me too," Pisti commented.

"As always, I will fight to save Sindria," Drakon said.

"I will fight to protect my country and my family," Hinahoho said.

"Alright, it's settled then, we will all fight together. It may be the last chance we have to do so," said Jafar.

They all grabbed their weapons as quickly as they could. They thought that the Kou soldiers would rush into the palace to attack them while they were unarmed, however, they seemed to be waiting outside for the generals to come out instead. Maybe they wanted Sindria to have a fair fight. Which made sense, Kouen was powerful but he wasn't evil enough to make innocent and unarmed people die by his hands.

When the generals decided they were ready to fight, they walked out the front door of the palace, weapons in hand. Everyone was silent for a while, but soon, they went to battle. Everyone was fighting their hardest. Yamuraiha was using her magic. Sharrkon and Drakon were using swords. Masrur was punching and kicking with his monstrous strength. Spartos was using his lance. Hinahoho was using the giant animal horn he always carried around. Pisti was riding her bird-like creature. And Ja'far, as always, was using his wires.

They were able to take down more enemies than they thought. Jafar was able to trap soldiers with his wires so that other generals could attack them easily. He also used the daggers at the end of the wires to take down some enemies too. Since all of their household vessels draw their power from Sinbad, they acted as just normal weapons without him. That made it a little harder to kill enemies because they did not have magical abilities anymore. However, even without having extra abilities, the generals were still doing pretty well. They were almost getting ready to celebrate their victory when Judar showed up.

"Wow, you guys are doing better than I thought. I was hoping not to participate in this battle. Oh well, I guess I'll have to now," He said maliciously.

The generals all looked up to see where the voice was coming from. Judar was floating in the sky above them. They didn't know if he just got there or if he had been floating up there the whole time. When Jafar saw him, he instantly threw one of his daggers directly at him. However, Judar quickly shot it away with a short burst of magic.

"You know, I would love to sit up here and fight you all day but Kouen wants you unharmed for the time being. Too bad, I would have loved to kill each and every one of you. I guess this is your lucky day."

The last thing any of the generals saw was a big flash of light before they were all knocked out cold by one of Judar's spells.

"Oops, I guess I overdid it," Judar said with a smirk as he saw, not only the generals, but the remaining Kou soldiers knocked out by his spell.

**_To Be Continued_**


	8. Sindria Captured?

**I'm so sorry the update took so long. I was really busy. But, to make it up to you I made this chapter really long. I'll try to update sooner next time.**

**-Mizaya**

* * *

**Chapter 8 – Sindria Captured?**

Sinbad could only watch in horror as Judar's spell knocked everyone out. Even the Kou soldiers were lying on the ground unconscious. Judar had appeared in the battle as soon as Sinbad thought that Sindria had a chance to win. It made him want to punch something. Mostly, he wanted to punch Judar. It seemed like the Magi was the cause of all Sinbad's problems lately. With Judar around, Sinbad felt completely powerless. As a Magi, Judar could pretty much do anything to Sinbad and without his metal vessels, the king wouldn't even be able to touch him. It made him so mad. If he just had his weapons, then maybe he would have a chance. _What did they do with them? If I could just find them then I could get out of here and save my generals and save Sindria before the Kou take over my country completely. I will not let that happen. _

"Hey Lord Moron, did you see me out there? Pretty cool wasn't it. They all dropped like flies! It was so much fun. . . Hey! Are you even listening?"

Sinbad was thinking so much that he didn't notice Judar come in. He seemed pretty full of himself after the battle. Which didn't surprise Sinbad, Judar was always happiest when he could cause mayhem. Sinbad also didn't notice that Judar had taken away his little magic window. He couldn't see what happened to everyone who was laying on the ground before.

"Hey, what did you do to my generals?" Sinbad asked harshly.

"Oh come on, don't be so harsh Sinbad, I just want to have a little fun. Didn't you see me out there? I'm offended that you didn't notice how awesome that was," Judar said with a mock sad expression.

"Just tell me Judar."

"Okay fine. Kouen said to bring them all back with us to the empire. Happy now?"

"No. Why does he want them there?"

"Don't ask me. It's Kouen's idea not mine. I just helped him with it. But I hope it has something to do with torture or pain or something. That's always fun," Judar said with a childish grin.

Sinbad, however, was not as excited as Judar on that idea. It terrified him to think that the empire might torture some of his generals. It made him sick. Sure they were probably strong enough to handle it but Sinbad did not want anyone to have to go through that. He often thought about Jafar's scars. He would wonder if they were caused by some sick form of torture from when he was an assassin. They must have been there since he was a little kid since Sinbad remembers seeing them on his legs when Jafar tried to kill him for the first time when Jafar was around ten. He never asked him about the scars though. Now Sinbad wishes he had found an opportunity to ask his adviser about it in all the years he's known Jafar. _What if I never get the chance to ask him? What if I never get to see him again? What if they kill him before I get the chance? I might never see him again. He might die still thinking it is his fault that I died. What if he never found out that I am still alive? _Sinbad's thoughts hit him like a tsunami. A huge wave of sadness covered him when he thought about the fact that he might not see any of his generals again, that they might never find out that he never died. Sinbad couldn't imagine what he would do if that actually happened. He might just die.

Thinking about what he would do if his generals died gave him more even motivation to save them. He was now determined to save his friends and his country no matter what. _I will save you. I promise I will save you!_

* * *

After he got knocked out, Jafar had his usual nightmare. It was always the same. He would go to wake up Sin then he would see Sin's body covered in blood. Sin would wake up and kill Jafar while saying that Jafar let him down. That same nightmare haunted him almost every night. However, this time, it was different. Everything was the same, except, when Sinbad got up, he didn't kill Jafar. Instead he walked up to him and hugged him, saying, "I will save you. I promise I will save you!" The dream seemed so real that time. The king's adviser felt like his king was actually there speaking to him. Instead of waking up panicking, he woke up peacefully.

"Sin?" Jafar asked quietly. He felt like Sin was there with him. _I thought I heard him. Was I dreaming or not? It felt so real. I wish it was real. I wish he would save me. But, he can't; he's dead. How can he save me when he's dead? I wish Sin was here with me now. Except, where is here? _Jafar was puzzled by that thought. He didn't know where _here _was. The last thing he remembered was a bright flash of light. He opened his eyes but he was still in complete darkness. He thought that he could have a blindfold on. Since he couldn't see, he tried to figure out what was going on and where he was without his sight. _Let's see, I can't feel my wires around my arms so the enemy must have taken those, darn them. But there is something around my wrists. What is it? Some type of rope I'm guessing? So they took my wires and tied me up, great, just great. I can't really hear anything, but wait . . . I hear a faint sound . . . waves? Do I hear waves? Could I be on a ship? That could be. Well if it's a Kou ship I must be headed to the empire, great, my day keeps getting better and better, doesn't it. Well I guess it's not that bad, if they wanted me dead they would have killed me by now so they probably want me alive. Except, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not sure. Well if they want me alive the other generals are probably still alive too so I guess that's a good thing. I wonder if they are here with me. _

"Yamuraiha? Sharrkon? Hinahoho? Pisti? Masrur? Anyone there?" Jafar said as quietly as possible in case other people were listening.

"Oh Freckles is up yay!"

"Judar?"

"Yep! That's me! I'm so touched that you recognized my voice," Judar said pretending he was actually touched.

"I could recognize your annoying voice anywhere," Jafar said back.

"Hey that's not nice. How do you know I'm not a prisoner here too-"

"Yeah nice try but I didn't fall for it the first time, I'm not falling for it this time."

"Stupid Freckles, you're no fun. Lord Moron fell for it."

"What? Who?"

"Oh no one, don't listen to me."

"Weird. . . So let me guess, we're on a ship headed to the Kou empire?"

"Wow you're smart Freckles. I was expecting you to ask me about that, not for you to figure it out yourself."

"Okay, so are you the one who killed Sin?"

"Me? No I didn't do it but let's change the subject . . . You've gotten really skinny Freckles," Judar said and to emphasize his statement he poked Jafar in the stomach with his wand several times.

"Stop that, you annoying Magi. I'll kill you when I get out of here, I hope you know that."

"Stop what? This?" He said with another poke, harder than before. He was completely ignoring Jafar's threats.

"Ahg," he winced. "Yes, stop that; stop poking me!"

"No, I won't stop poking you. You know why? Because right now, I could do anything I want to you and you couldn't stop me if you wanted to. You are completely powerless against me. I can play with you all I want Freckles. I could kill you if I wanted to. Kouen might be angry if I do, but, we'd have seven generals left so it wouldn't really matter if I killed you. But, since you are so much fun to poke and make fun of, Freckles, I think I'll keep you around for a little bit longer. Be grateful that I didn't decide to kill you instantly," Judar ended every sentence by poking Jafar with his wand. The end of the wand was sharp. Jafar could tell that he was bleeding by now. However, he refused to give Judar the satisfaction of seeing him in pain so the former assassin bit his lip to keep from making any pained sounds. It seemed to be working because, after a few minutes, Judar stopped.

"I'm bored now. You're not being very fun anymore Freckles."

After that, Jafar heard footsteps walking away and Judar was gone. He was glad that Judar was gone because he was starting to feel light headed, probably because of the hole Judar poked in his abdomen. It wasn't long before Jafar drifted off to sleep again. Once again, the adviser had a dream that Sinbad was going to save him. It was a pleasant dream compared to the normal nightmares he has been having since Sin died. It made him wonder if Sin really was going to come back to life and save him and the other generals.

**_To Be Continued_**


	9. The Empire

**Chapter 9 - The Empire**

"Hey you! Wake up already!" an unfamiliar voice shouted at him. When he opened his eyes he was still greeted by darkness. He could feel the rope still around his wrists also. He would take off the stupid blindfold if his hands weren't tied behind his back. However, he noticed that he wasn't on a ship anymore because he couldn't hear any waves and the floor he was lying on was not swaying. Jafar was surprised that he had been unconscious throughout the entire trip to the Kou Empire. It shocked him that he didn't wake up sooner. Because of his training as an assassin, he normally would have woken up quickly at any sign of someone near. However, the ex-assassin's reflexes were dulled by minor blood loss and he figured that Judar could have easily used magic to make him sleep that long. _That stupid, annoying Magi. I'll kill him next time I see him, I swear. _It occurred to Jafar that he has sworn to kill the dark Magi quite often lately, Nevertheless, he still swore to kill Judar even if it didn't work out for him the past times he's tried to kill him. He still slightly suspected that Judar was the one to kill Sinbad. However, logic told him that that wasn't the case. For one, Judar doesn't particularly hate Sin. Two, Judar uses magic to kill people, he doesn't slit their throats. The fact that king Sinbad's throat had been cut made it look like it was an assassin that killed him. As a little kid and assassin, Jafar had once tried to slit the soon-to-be king's throat. Luckily though, he was stopped from doing that by Sinbad. Jafar couldn't imagine what his life would be like if he had managed to kill Sin and stayed as an assassin his entire life. It would be a truly worthless life without his king, he thought.

"Hey! I said wake up!" the voice said again, this time louder. Jafar figured that showing that he was awake would not be a good idea. Since his voice was urgent and harsh, Jafar had a feeling he would not like what would come after waking up. Whoever it was couldn't tell his eyes were open anyway so it was easy for the former assassin to pretend to be still out cold. He then heard another voice.

"Still asleep after the entire trip?" the new man asked.

"Yeah, Judar must've hit him with a strong spell for him to sleeping still," the man replied. _I was right, that annoying Magi did use magic to make me sleep, darn him. _

"No, I don't think Judar's spell was that powerful. I think he's awake but just pretending to be asleep."

"Really? How do you figure?"

"Just a gut feeling, but allow me to test my theory."

Jafar was confused at how the man was going to test his theory. He closed his eyes in case the man decided to pull off his blindfold, which would be helpful for Jafar but that would mean they would find out he's awake. What happened next though, he was not expecting.

"Hey you, Jafar, right? I've heard a lot about you. You were Sinbad's favorite, weren't you? You were just like his little pet. He would order you around and you would obediently follow him everywhere . . . or so I'm told. Did it ever occur to you that he was just using you to get all the work done while he got drunk on wine and partied 'til early morning hours? He probably used every single general for his own selfish reasons-"

It was then that Jafar snapped. He climbed to his feet and practically screamed at the man,

"You do know anything about him, you worthless piece of trash! He wasn't like that!"

"See, I told you he was faking being asleep. Now, this," he said and hit Jafar hard in the face, "is for calling me a worthless piece of trash."

Jafar was knocked down to the floor by the unexpected punch. "And this," he said as he kicked Jafar in the stomach while he was on the ground, "is for not listening to us and pretending to be asleep!"

The sudden kick hurt. Jafar wasn't expecting it because of the stupid blindfold. It left him coughing and he was almost certain that, if he could see, he would be coughing blood. The kick also reopened the wound left by Judar, Jafar could feel it bleeding again. He finally managed to get himself up on to his knees, still coughing intensely.

He didn't get much time at all to recover before the men grabbed him and dragged him away somewhere. He couldn't tell where they were taking him but he had a gut feeling that he wouldn't enjoy where he was going. Honestly, he was worried.

* * *

Jafar didn't know it, but Sinbad could see everything that was happening to his adviser. And he was angry. He was angry at the Kou guards for treating Jafar like that. Except, he knew that they were doing it just to get under the king's skin. That's the reason why they put him in a cell right next to Jafar; so he could see his best friend and watch as they hurt him but could never help him. That just tortured Sinbad. He was supposed to save Jafar but he couldn't. They put Jafar so near to him, yet so far. Judar had even made a barrier so that Jafar couldn't hear Sin next door. Sinbad tested the barrier out quite a lot but he could tell that Jafar didn't hear anything no matter how much he shouted. He wished his adviser could hear him shouting, "I'm alive! I'm here with you! I'll save you!" but it was hopeless. King Sinbad felt honored when Jafar defended him after the guard said such untrue things about him. However, he felt sick when a guard hit him and kicked him. He felt even more sick when he saw the former assassin cough blood. And when they dragged him off-even though he had an idea of where he would be taken-he felt like punching something. In the end, he was all alone. He felt completely helpless for close to the first time in his life. And it scared him. _How can I save them? I don't know what to do. . ._

**_To Be Continued_**


	10. Is There Any Hope?

**Chapter 10 - Is There Any Hope?**

Jafar was suddenly dropped from the guards' hold. Without any warning, Jafar fell flat on his face. _How ungraceful, _he thought. _I'm supposed to look like an intimidating assassin not some idiot that just landed on his face. _

The guards helped him get to his knees which irritated the white-haired general even more. He felt helpless for needed help to get off his face. He felt a bit better after they removed his blindfold. _I knew I wasn't going to like where I was going. _He groaned internally. Knowing that if he groaned at the first prince of the Kou Empire it would not end well for him. At that point, however, he felt that anything that had to do with Kouen would end badly for him. He wouldn't be too surprised—or too disappointed—if Kouen killed him on the spot. After giving it some thought, Jafar figured that Kouen probably wouldn't kill him just yet. First, Kouen would probably try to make a deal with the general to try and take over Sindria. However, Jafar already knew the answer to that—no!

"So, Jafar. I trust my guards weren't too rough on you. How was the trip? You don't get seasick do you?"

". . ."

"Don't act like a stranger, Jafar. I want you to be as comfortable as possible during your stay at the Empire. Think of this as a peaceful negotiation. King Sinbad would have peaceful negotiations quite often. As a trusted general, you've probably been on a few yourself."

"Cut the crap, Kouen. I know you don't want to peacefully negotiate. If you wanted to do that, you wouldn't have killed Sin. And if you think I'm going to help you take over Sindria because you act nicely to me, you couldn't be more wrong. I will _never _give up on Sindria. You can do anything you want to me and I will still never listen to you," Jafar spat out words venomously. His whole demeanor turned snake-like. His eyes changed into the snake-like ones that appear whenever he is angry. The ex-assassin was staring daggers at Kouen. Jafar wished he could actually throw his daggers at him. However, since he had no idea where they were, staring daggers would have to suffice.

Kouen smirked at him for a second before his expression turned cold once again.

"How did I know that you wouldn't agree peacefully. Well, it's your loss. You weren't even polite enough to hear what I had to offer in return for your cooperation. I admire your bravery when you say I could do anything I want to you and you still would not give in. However, everyone has their limits, even an assassin like you. We'll see if you are still as brave after you spend a week here in the Empire. You had your chance to listen to me. Just know that whatever happens this week is your own fault. You were the one to say that I could do anything I want to you. Trust me when I say, I will get what I want. And if you don't give up this week, I will kill you and move on to the next general. And if they don't give up in the next week, I will kill them and move on to another general. There are seven more general I can go through, seven more weeks I can wait. One of you is bound to give up at some point. You might as well save them the pain by doing what I want. I enjoyed talking with you. Have a nice week, assassin."

After Kouen nodded to his guards, Jafar was again blindfolded and dragged back out the way he came. He was thrown on the floor even harsher than before. This time, they didn't bother to help the ex-assassin back up to his knees. He heard metal scraping together as the cell door was closed.

"Get some sleep, you're not going to get many other chances. We'll be back tomorrow," a familiar guard said. His words might seem kind, however, the way he said them made Jafar shiver. He could imagine the guard laughing at him. He imagined that that particular guard was probably a very sadistic person, or at least his voice sounded that way when he spoke to Jafar. Jafar dreaded what would happen to him the next day. He wasn't afraid of pain that's for sure, he was just scared of the unknown. He was scared of feeling helpless like he had in the past few days. In fact, he felt helpless ever since Sin died. And the ex-assassin hated it. It also made him mad to no end that Kouen would even think about touching the other generals. Like he said before, Jafar didn't care what Kouen did, however, Jafar would not let Kouen lay a finger on anyone else. That meant that Jafar had a week to figure out a way out and a way to get the rest of his friends out with him. He just hoped he could survive long enough to think of a good plan.

* * *

"So Sinbad, what did you think of my little speech? I assume that Judar let you listen to every minute of it."

". . ."

"What's wrong? Did I frighten you? Are you worried about what will happen to your precious little generals?"

"Shut up," Sinbad whispered.

"I'm sorry, can you say that again."

"I said, SHUT UP! I will kill you when I get out of here. You will not lay a finger on any one of them! I swear I will not let you touch them."

"More like, _if_ you get out of here, not when. I don't plan on letting any of you out alive if you keep defying the Empire. I have waited a long time to claim Sindria. Your time is up. It is my country now. If you would agree to give it to me peacefully, you would save so many of your people's lives. Do you really want to sacrifice the lives of your people just to keep your pathetic country? Maybe after this week you will change your mind. Just say the word and I will let you talk to your people and convince them that the Kou Empire wants nothing more than to protect the country of Sindria. I'm sure your people would listen to you if you told them to trust us. Honestly, we mean no real harm to your precious country, king Sinbad. You might actually be causing them more harm by resisting us than you would cause by accepting this. Well, I'll give you some time to think about it. Have a good night. Enjoy the rest of the week."

**_To Be Continued_**

* * *

**_Sorry that this chapter was mostly dialog. It'll start to get interesting soon, I promise. _**

**_-Mizaya_**


	11. Dark Despair and Surprising Light

**Chapter 11 - Dark Despair and Surprising Light**

Sinbad could hardly stand it anymore. He had to watch them torture his advisor for three days straight. Each day it kept getting worse. It might not have seemed so bad on the first day, but by the third day, the pain was close to unimaginable. Sinbad could feel it. He could feel the pain Jafar was feeling. For every cut, every bruise, for every drop of blood, the king felt like it was him in Jafar's place. He wished he could be in Jafar's place if it meant that his best friend didn't have to go through all of that pain. However, it was impossible. Sinbad was stuck on the other side of a wall. He was so close to Jafar yet it was impossible to reach out to him. He cursed Judar for creating the magical barrier that divided him from Jafar. He cursed Kouen for putting him in this situation. Sinbad was tempted to curse his fate and become a dark djinn so he would have enough power to break free from his cage. However, he knew Jafar would never forgive him if he did that. He was supposed to be saving Jafar not causing more trouble for him. So, for now, Sinbad would not give in to temptation. However, he was not sure how much more of this he could take.

Time was running out for Jafar. Sinbad was determined to save him but he did not know how. How could he save his generals when he was locked up himself? He had to think of a way out. Sinbad had gotten himself out of seven dungeons so he had to be able to get out of a simple barrier. It angered him that a dungeon conqueror like himself failed to escape from a small prison. _Usually with a dungeon, you have to negotiate with the djinn there in order to conquer it and escape. But, this isn't like that. There isn't a djinn here that I can make an agreement with. This isn't like a dungeon at all. Wait, maybe they are not so different after all. I think I know what I need to do. _

"Judar? I know you can hear me, Judar!"

"Yes, lord moron? You called."

"I wish to speak with Kouen," Sinbad said with a look of determination on his face and a plan forming in his mind.

Judar was stunned for a second. However, his surprised look was quickly replaced by an evil smirk.

"I'm sure he'll be pleased to speak with you. Right this way, my lord."

_I'm sorry Jafar. I hope you will forgive me for this eventually. I wish I could explain my plan to you. I wish I could ask for your advice like I usually do in situations like this. I just hope that you can trust me in this. I hope that you realize that I'm doing this for you. To save you. To save you all. Please trust me like you always do, my friends._

* * *

Jafar was not sure what to think. It had been almost a week since the last time guards came in his cell with ill intentions. For the past few days, guards had only come in to treat his wounds instead of giving him more. Jafar was surprised by the sudden change. He was definitely thankful for the change but it made him suspicious. He was worried that Kouen had given up on him and moved on to the other generals. Jafar hoped that was not the case. He would do anything to spare them the pain that he had gone through. Being a former assassin, he was used to pain. Getting his legs cut open helped with that. As a result, pain did not bother him as much as it would bother a normal person. The other generals were obviously not normal people, however, Jafar still wanted to prevent them from feeling all the agony he had felt in his lifetime. That was why it frightened him to think that Kouen had chosen to move on to torturing them instead.

Jafar's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a metal door opening. He heard footsteps walking towards him and he instinctively tensed. However, the guard that approached him did something unexpected, he took off the blindfold around Jafar's eyes. Jafar had not been able to see for a long time. He had to squint for a few minutes to adjust to the light he had not seen in many days. After his eyes grew accustomed to the light again, he saw the guard's hand above him offering him help getting up on his feet. _Well this is strange, _Jafar thought. Even though it seemed odd to him, he took the hand and slowly stood up. It felt weird to Jafar after being on the ground for so many days.

"Follow me," the Kou guard said.

"Where are we going?" Jafar asked hesitantly.

"You'll see once we get there. Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I can manage."

Jafar was shocked by the guard's sudden kindness. He did not think they were capable of kindness after three days of being tortured by various guards. Even though he was suspicious, Jafar reluctantly followed the guard. He was limping from the injuries he had but he still managed to walk without help.

After what seemed like hours, Jafar and the guard reached their destination. They were in the same room that Jafar had met Kouen in before. Except this time Jafar was not alone. As he looked around the room, he saw that all of the other generals were there with him. Masrur, Sharrkan, Yamuraiha, Drakon, Pisti, Hinahoho, and Spartos. They were all there. The best part was that they looked perfectly healthy and unharmed. Jafar couldn't help but smile when he saw that they did not have a scratch on them. However, they did not have the same reaction when they saw him. They grimaced at the many bruises and bandages covering his body. Jafar smiled to communicate to them that he was okay. Most of the generals did not look like they believed him. However, they managed to smile back at him and Jafar started to feel that everything would be okay. He thought that maybe things would finally start to get better.

**_To Be Continued_**


	12. Many Surprises

Happy Easter my beloved readers! To celebrate, I made this chapter extra long. Enjoy :)

-Mizaya

* * *

**Chapter 12 - Many Surprises**

"You are probably wondering why you are all here."

The sudden voice surprised the generals and their attention turned to who had spoken. It was Kouen. They did not know when he entered the room because they were all too focused on seeing each other again. After Kouen spoke, they all turned to look at him instead of each other. He began speaking again.

"I have gathered you all here to let you know of some good news and some bad news. The good news is that you will no longer be tortured, cruelly treated, or threatened to be killed. However, the bad news is that your country belongs to the Kou Empire as of this moment."

Jafar stared at him in shock. He thought that he had misheard Kouen. _He couldn't possibly have taken over Sindria this quickly. It's impossible. I must have heard him wrong. _As Jafar looked around the room, the other generals seemed to have the same look of shock and mistrust on their faces as Jafar–except for Masrur, of course, who always has the same blank look on his face.

"Allow me to repeat myself. Your country—Sindria—is now mine."

"You're lying!" Jafar shouted. "Sindria could never be conquered by the likes of you!"

The other generals could see that Jafar had snapped. His eyes turned snake-like and he stomped towards Kouen looking ready for a fight even though he had no weapons on him. Two of Kouen's guards grapped Jafar's arms to keep him away from Kouen. Jafar kept shouting at him while he just sat there calmly. After Jafar had calmed down a bit himself, Kouen spoke up again.

"I know it must seem impossible to you. However, I can assure you that what I'm saying is true. I have proof. Judar, why don't you show them all what is going on in Sindria right at this moment."

"Sure can do," Judar said happily. A window of magic appeared before them all when Judar pointed his wand. The window clearly showed the island of Sindria. Soon, it zoomed closer to the palace. After it had zoomed in enough, they could see that there was someone standing above the people from a balcony on the palace. The people below the balcony were all staring in amazement at the person. The window followed the people's gaze up to the man above them. _Sin! That looks like Sinbad. That's not possible! But, he's dead! That can't be him. That just can't be him. But it looks so much like him. Sin. How can he be alive? I saw him! He was dead! How is he alive! It must be some sort of trick. Some kind of magic must have made it look like Sin. How dare Kouen! He has no right to play tricks on us or the people of Sindria. He has no right! _

Jafar fully believed that Kouen or Judar had played a trick on him, until he heard Sinbad speak.

"People of Sindria, I know you believe me to be dead. It must be a shock to you that I am standing before you now. However, I can assure you that I am alive and well. My death was faked by the Kou Empire in order to separate me from my country and my generals. After negotiating with the first prince of the Kou Empire, Kouen Ren, I have decided that the best option for you, my cherished people, and for my beloved generals is to give over the country of Sindria to the Kou Empire. Lord Kouen has vowed to keep this country safe and to protect every citizen. I believe that this is the right thing to do and I hope that you will continue to live peacefully Sindria just like you have in the past. Please know that I will always do what is best for my people. You are all my children and I would never do anything to harm you in any way. Thank you for remaining faithful to this country even in these difficult times."

After he was done speaking, Sinbad stepped back into the palace and out of view of the magic window. Judar waved his wand again and the window of light disappeared. No one spoke for what seemed like hours. The first one to speak again was Jafar.

"That's not Sin," he said in almost a whisper.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. Can you speak a little louder please," Kouen said.

"I said, that's not Sinbad! It's a trick. You tricked us! It has to be a trick! Sin is dead. I saw him with my own eyes. He's dead! That wasn't him. I know it wasn't. It just can't be," at that point, Jafar had fallen to his knees and tears were slowly falling off his face onto the floor. Jafar felt like he was going through Sinbad's death all over again. He was a mess.

Kouen didn't move. He just looked at Jafar with a mixture of disgust and pity. He made a hand gesture to Judar, and soon, Jafar was feeling very drowsy. His eyelids were becoming heavier and heavier by the minute. After he closed his eyes, he could faintly feel himself being dragged by the arms out of the room. That was the last thing he remembered before he faded into unconsciousness.

* * *

When Jafar finally awoke, he expected to feel the hard stone floor of his cell underneath him. However, what he felt instead was the softness of a real bed. He could feel a real pillow under his head. He pressed his face into the softness of the pillow. He felt like he was home again. He felt like he was back in his own bed in Sindria. For a moment, Jafar had forgotten everything that happened in the past week in the Kou Empire. For a moment, he thought that it had all been a bad dream.

Then he opened his eyes and his moment of happiness quickly faded. He was not in his own bed in his own room in his own country of Sindria. He was still in the Kou Empire. However, he wasn't in his normal jail cell anymore, but he could tell that he had not left the Empire.

"I see you're awake now."

_That voice. Where did it come from? That sounded like . . . _"Sin?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

Jafar sat up and saw that Sinbad was sitting at the end of his bed. _But, it can't be the real Sinbad. Sin is dead. But then, how is he here now? What is going on?_

Jafar suddenly leaned towards Sin and slapped him. His palm connected with his king's face and the sound echoed though the silent room. Jafar was surprised that his fingers actually hit a solid object. He thought that maybe Sinbad was a ghost or just a part of his imagination. He looked down at the redness of his hand from the slap and realized that, yes, he had actually hit the real Sin.

"You're real!" Jafar said in amazement.

"Yes, I am."

"You're not dead!"

"No, I'm not."

"But, I saw you. Your throat was cut open. There was so much blood."

"I honestly don't know how they did it. All I know is that I woke up on a ship and then ended up here in the Empire."

"Oh. Sorry for slapping you."

"It's okay. I think I deserved it."

". . ."

". . ."

"So you're really Sin?" Jafar asked. He was still not sure he believed what he was seeing.

"Yes."

"Prove it.

"Okay. I met you in the Imuchakk village when you tried to kill me. You later decided to follow me in the dungeon of Valefor. I also know that you have two scars on the insides of your legs that you don't want anyone to know about. Is that enough information to prove that it's really me? Please believe me, Jafar."

Jafar was stunned. Sin was really alive. He was real. Jafar knew that only Sinbad would know about his scars. He never showed anyone else. He couldn't believe it. After all the time he spent believing Sin was dead, here he was, alive. Jafar felt so happy he could cry. Instead he almost knocked Sinbad over with a hug.

"I can't believe it's really you. I'm so happy you're alive! Sin, don't ever leave me like that again! I don't think I could handle life without you again after this. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, Jafar. I'm so sorry for everything that you've had to go through since I've been gone. I promise I will never leave you again. I will stay here to protect you and keep you safe for the rest of my life. I promise."

_**To Be Continued**_


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